I really enjoyed doing my milk and two sugars post yesterday. So much so I woke up this morning and the first thing I thought about was what sweet treat I could have with my morning coffee! I didn’t have very much time today and was in a bit of a rush, so after a little bit of thinking it came to me. Quick, easy to make and simply delicious, cinnamon roll ups!

These crispy, gooey centred roll ups are a lovely little snack to have, no matter what time of the day. In the morning before work with a little jam, or after dinner with some vanilla ice cream! This recipe is VERY simple and is just the basic version. You can completely make this recipe your own, by adding your favourite mixed dried fruit before folding, or a selection of finely chopped nuts. You could place a cube of chocolate in the centre before cooking, or glaze with warmed apricot jam. Whatever you fancy really. « Read the rest of this entry »

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Now, I have 3 big loves in my life. That’s food, my beautiful girlfriend and good coffee. So you can imagine that when they all come together I am a very happy man. I had the pleasure of having a rather spontaneous coffee morning with my beloved a few days ago, but the problem was that there was no cake! That’s just not right is it folks? Coffee morning without cake?

Now the problem was I had no eggs at the time and really didn’t want to go to the shops to buy some, I was feeling very lazy OK! So I set myself the challenge of cooking a cake that was pleasant to eat, but one that also didn’t have any eggs. I have heard of recipes that didn’t use eggs but I had never tried one for myself so it was completely new ground. I found a few recipes to follow but some called for things I didn’t have and so forth so I decided to make one up. Living on the edge right 😉 « Read the rest of this entry »

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After drinking far too much cider late last night, I woke up feeling rather hung over. I needed something refreshing to get me up and ready for the day and this smoothie recipe is the perfect cure. Trust me, it does wonders! « Read the rest of this entry »

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Breakfast time! Too often I reach for the box of cereal on the shelf, or make myself some toast. But if I have a spare 15 minutes in the morning, I treat myself to these quick and easy drop scones.

“What are drop scones?” you ask. Mini pancakes basically.. light, puffy and covered in a plum syrup. What’s not to love about them? So, let’s get started.

Ingredients:

100g plain flour

60g caster sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

150ml milk

25g butter (unsalted)

3 plums

Start by cutting the plums in half and removing the stone with a spoon, then cut the halves in two once more. Place the plums skin side up in a heavy bottom saucepan on a low/medium heat and cover with 50ml of water and 50g sugar. Or enough to cover them halfway, making sure that the sugar and water is half and half. This is known as a simple sugar syrup.

Meanwhile in a large bowl sift together your flour, baking powder and remaining 10g of sugar.

Mix together your egg and milk and add to the flour slowly, mixing with a whisk or fork making a nice smooth batter.

In a frying pan over a medium heat add a little oil. Drop your batter into the pan with either a large spoon or small ladle. You want to aim for them to be around 10cm wide.

Wait until small bubbles appear through the batter and the drop scone is nicely browned on one side. This usually takes around a minute to a minute and a half. A palette knife is perfect for checking the underneath.

Flip them over and cook for a further half a minute or so. By the time you have cooked all of the batter (should make around 12 drop scones) the plums should be nicely soft and the syrup should be thick and bright pink.

Place your scones on the plate, top with some of the plums and cover with the syrup!

You can top this with anything you fancy. Maple syrup, ice cream, cinnamon sugar, cream, fresh fruit. Or for an even bigger fruit hit, add grated apple to the batter and cook as normal. As always, it would be great to hear from you, comment below. What did you add to your scones?

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An apple a day keeps the doctor away! But let’s be honest, on their own, they are pretty boring. My honey apple crisps are my girlfriends favourite. She can’t get enough of them, and neither can I. After trying these simple but tasty little crisps, the doctor won’t be bothering you anymore.. but the dentist might pay you a visit if you gobble down too many, believe me, they ARE that tasty.

Ingredients

1 apple makes around 15-20 crisps depending on your knife skills.

1 teaspoon honey per apple

sugar to dust (optional)

First thing, pre heat your oven to 140C. Grab your apple(s) and slice as thin as you possibly can. I do suggest a mandolin for this, as it creates wafer thin slices that crisp up beautifully but be careful, they are SHARP! Don’t worry if you don’t have one though, they work fine when hand cut.

Lay the slices on a baking tray covered with greaseproof paper. Make sure none of them overlap each other. Heat the honey over a low heat until runny. Luckily I am blessed to have a local honey supplier, which in turn makes these that little bit more magical.

‘Paint’ your slices with the runny honey with a pastry brush, don’t worry if you don’t have one of these either, just drizzle over with a teaspoon, making sure not to over do it, as this will make the slices too ‘soggy’ and they wont crisp up.

Pop them in the oven and wait.. around 20-30 minutes should do, depending on the thickness. Take them out when they are just starting to go slightly brown. If you are worried about them burning you can turn your oven down, if anything this will just make them more crispy, but I don’t want to wait too long for them! Place them on a cooling rack to rid any left over moisture, about 5 minutes should do.

After they have cooled, sprinkle with sugar. Try adding some cinnamon to your sugar for a different twist. Of course you can skip this part, whatever you want to do, they will still be yummy! You can try whatever you fancy, they really are versatile, well, don’t put salt and vinegar on them..

There you have it! My apple crisps. Keep them in an airtight container and they will last a couple of days.

Comment below, would be great to hear if you tried this. Any questions I would be happy to answer them.